Talented Year 10 students from across regional Victoria with a passion for science are invited to attend John Monash Science School (JMSS) in Melbourne for a three-week block as part of our annual Regional Science Exchange Program.

Held annually, the Regional Science Exchange Program
offers talented regional and rural students a unique
opportunity to experience teaching, learning and life at John
Monash Science School – Victoria’s first specialist school
for science, mathematics and associated technologies.

Open to all regional and rural Victorian
Year 10 students who display talent,
interest curiosity and enthusiasm in the
areas of science, mathematics and/or
technology, participating students will
have the opportunity to attend John
Monash Science School for a
fully-immersive three-week period.

Through the Regional Science Exchange, small cohorts of Year 10 students from rural and regional Victoria are invited to visit Melbourne and experience teaching and learning at John Monash Science School (JMSS) – Victoria’s first specialist secondary school with an explicit focus on science, mathematics and associated technologies.

Students participating in the exchange will travel to Melbourne, and be provided with homestay accomodation for three weeks, during which time they will enrol and participate in regular Year 10 curriculum at John Monash Science School.

Designed to minimise disruption to regular studies, all students will be able to continue their studies in core subjects like English and Mathematics while on exchange.

In addition to regular studies, visiting students will experience the
unique learning environment offered
through our co-location and partnership with Monash
University, benefit from working with a
large group of keen scientifically-minded
students, and have the opportunity to participate in specialised
emerging science electives, field trips
and extra-curricular activities.

The costs of this initiative are shared by the family, school and JMSS.

JMSS will cover school-related costs such as supervision for all school and group activities, as well as a JMSS uniform rugby jumper.

Participants’ schools and families are asked to contribute the $490.00 program fee and organise their own transport from home to Melbourne and return, including car pooling and public transport options. It is hoped schools will assist with costs and travel arrangements.

The curriculum at John Monash Science School challenges students to explore cutting-edge scientific knowledge in an immersive teaching and learning environment, including opportunities to participate in emerging science electives developed in partnership with Monash University.

In addition to study-related opportunities, students will also have opportunity to explore Melbourne’s diverse cultural and sporting landscape through curated excursions and guided weekend activities - forming a holistic school/life experience.

The Regional Science Exchange is also designed to give students exposure to the Monash University campus and facilities, helping to prepare for the transition to university and further study at the end of the secondary years of schooling.

During their exchange, students will choose an elective Emerging Science subject from a range of offerings. These electives are hands-on in nature, and often utilise the various scientific facilities on-campus at Monash University, allowing students to explore and investigate areas of science, technology and mathematics that are shaping the future. Here are some that are on offer.

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology students will be introduced to fundamental scientific ideas that contribute to the unique properties of substances on the nanoscale. Study how scale and properties of materials are linked, and how this leads to unusual and unexpected behaviour of materials. This understanding of nanoscience is extended to explore how properties of nanoscale materials can be exploited in a range of current and developing applications, and how nanotechnology can play a role in solving key global issues.

This subject involves the study of the human body’s form and function, the diseases that alter how the body works and the strategies developed to prevent/treat problems. 'From Cells to Systems' provides a foundational understanding of human anatomy and physiology, whilst exposing students to current research taking place at Monash University.

Geology means rocks... right? Well that’s not all if you study ‘Our Dynamic Earth’ at John Monash Science School!

The study of Geology is like studying a forensic science; we use evidence from the past - using the rock and fossil record - to understand what Earth was like, implications for the present and make predictions about the future. From the Big Bang, to meteorites, to dinosaurs, to mass extinctions, 'Our Dynamic Earth' helps students experience Geoscience from a completely new perspective!

Do you know that the interior angles of a triangle don’t always add to 180 degrees?

Explore the mathematics beyond the reality you see, such as 4-dimensional tesseracts, hyperbolic space, and hotels with an infinite number of rooms. This subject also examines the mathematics of what you can see such as the golden ratio, pi, and how these relate to nature.

In 'Life in the Universe', students will go on a journey through the Universe to explore weird and wonderful phenomenon such as black holes, dark matter and dark energy. Investigate the potential for life in the universe as well as how stars form and how they die. Tour our solar system and come up with your own mission proposal to investigate and explore one of these amazing locations. From quarks to quasars, and everything in between, students who undertake this subject will be left truly dazzled by the sheer scale and marvels of our Universe.

This subject explores how we use technology to understand genetic codes. The sequence for an individual or species can now be generated quickly and cheaply, resulting in an explosion of information. Students will develop skills to decipher this information and further understand the code for life.

Explore the analytical and spectroscopic techniques used in chemistry!

These essential techniques are currently used to qualitatively and quantitatively identify chemicals, such as salt content in water, molecular components in vegetable juices and petrol.
This subject focuses on some of the experimental techniques used in future units of chemistry and will access the university’s chemistry laboratories to enhance the understanding of the techniques.

As humans we are constantly interpreting images that are formed by light detected by our eyes. Knowledge of how light interacts with matter has allowed us to improve upon the images obtained by our naked eyes through the use of glasses, optical microscopes and telescopes. Images can also be created using non-visible sources of energy, such as X-rays and ultrasonic waves.

In this subject, students investigate fundamental questions such as “can we believe what we see?” and “why do we need light to see?” experimentally. They build upon that knowledge to investigate medical imaging techniques such as ultrasound, X-ray and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Students will also learn principles of digital imaging and explore the extraction of information from digital images as well as digital image manipulation. In addition to many practical activities, 'Imaging Science' includes excursions to imaging facilities and visits from speakers who are practising experts in their fields.

In 'Marine Biology', students will explore marine ecosystems, with an introduction to the physical and chemical characteristics of marine environments. A diverse range of marine environments are explored through a local and global context and include coral reefs, the pelagic ecosystem and the Arctic and Antarctic environments.

Students will also investigate the organisms that inhabit marine environments, and explore the diverse forms and functions of these organisms, as well as the relationships and interactions between them through laboratory exercises, field trips and other activities that help demonstrate the depth and rich diversity of marine habitats.

In this subject the notion of what is meant by ‘From Bench to Bedside’ is explored. Students learn about the thinking and planning that is required for the development of a medicinal drug right through to how it is administered to a patient and then how that drug makes its way to its target.

Students will learn about the way drugs work, their effect on the treatment of disease, the impact they have on the human body, and the process for taking safe and effective pharmaceutical products to market, taking examples from the fields of Formulation Science and Medicinal Chemistry.

This elective subject is brand new in 2018, and will investigate the physical properties of different materials. Drawing from physics and engineering, 'Material Science' will explore a diverse range of topics connected to our physical, material world.

APPLY

Applications for the 2019 Regional Science Exchange Program will open in Term 1 of 2019.

To ensure that you are notified when applications for the 2019 Regional Science Exchange Program are officially open, please register your interest in participating using the form below.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Students, teachers and parents are invited to register their interest in the Regional Science Exchange Program.

It's never too early to register your interest in the Regional Science Exchange program for 2019.

Interested parties will be added to our mailing list and receive email notifications and updates about the Regional Science Exchange Program.

TO APPLY FOR 2019:

Please apply ASAP as Term 2 applications are closing at the end of March 2019.

Term 3 applications will be open until the end of June 2019.

-Make sure you have read through the Information Booklet

-Ensure you have read and addressed the Selection Criteria

-Complete a cover sheet, outlining your details

Please ensure you have the following documents prepared in either Word Document (.doc/.docx) or Adobe PDF (.pdf) format: